Rent Dark Waters on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book
Written by: Nathaniel Rich (based on The New York Times magazine article "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare" by), Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan (screenplay)
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
A corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.
Verdict
It's a pretty good movie, but it's a great education. Chemicals are in everything, they're unregulated, and they have severe health effects. Sure, this is a big corporation concealing the harm they do. The movie certainly leans into a few tropes, but it's the facts behind this movie and the true story upon which it is based that help it stand out.
Watch It.
Review
This starts with kids playing in a sewage contaminated river. With the plot of this movie, that's a premonition of things to come.
This has a rather typical start with a small town lawyer, Rob (Mark Ruffalo), working his way up the ranks of a big law firm. He comes across unlawful dumping from a big corporation that is harming a small town. This is so typical that it's almost boring as it hits all the tropes of the genre. Rob wants to pursue legal action, but you can't sue Dupont. No locals will agree because the company employs nearly everyone in the town. It's a fool's errand to sue, and everyone knows it. Rob's boss lets him pursue for the sake of the plot despite Dupont being a client.
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| Mark Ruffalo plays Rob Bilott |
Rob thinks the dumping is an oversight not standard practice. Dupont is cordial at first while trying to deter Rob. Rob doesn't stop and Dupont is no longer happy. Rob is fighting a giant. He's the corporate lawyer with a heart of gold that just wants to help these people that are getting sick. He forsakes his own family in the dogged pursuit of this impossible lawsuit that everyone tells him won't go anywhere. There's no way for Rob to win. Dupont has more money and resources that Rob could ever hope to have.
The most harrowing moment is a scene cross-cut between Rob telling his boss and wife what Dupont has done. Companies knew about the harmful health effects in the 60s and didn't stop. Animal testing resulted in dead animals. Dupont even tested products on their own employees, lacing cigarettes with chemicals.
What helps this movie is the true story origins, seeing how Dupont harmed people with no regard and circumvented any liability. The crazy thing is how long Rob pursued this. Nearly anyone else would have given up. Rob's battle continues for years. Ruffalo does a great job. I thought he was a bit young for the part, but by the end his age fits the character much better.
When Dupont finally has to face repercussions, they basically say no. Refusing to honor a previous agreement. Rob begins to sue on the behalf of each person in the case. That's when he finally gets a victory that Dupont can't escape. This is an amazing story that spans years. It certainly makes you think about the chemicals all around us heralded as 'life-changing.' That may not always be positive.
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